O processo de institucionalização do direito à cidade no Brasil: a contribuição do significado atribuído a um conceito na definição daspossibilidades e limitações à sua realização

Abstract

As Hegel once wrote, only in concept truth has the element of its existence. The concept, a selfmoviment of the whole, finds its effectiveness not only in income, but also in its update and coming-to-be. But the coming-to-be is not something ready, predetermined or inevitable: it depends on the internal movement of the whole and the external conditions in order to be effective. The concept of Urban, which is analyzed in this paper by means of its element Right to the City, corresponds to the update of other concepts, such as the Free City (Espinosa) and the True Democracy (Marx). Its accomplishment relies on both the social and political conjunctions of each moment of society, as well as the intellectual conditions of individuals who may, as from these historical circumstances, have a glimpse at future possibilities, so that the coming-to-be may be consciously directed by society. Mediating these two aspects, the path of movement also depends on the understanding that people and groups have regarding this concept. The possibilities of the Urban were pondered in theory especially by Lefebvre, Castells and Harvey, considering that the studies conducted by each one of these authors were borrowed by urban planners in Brazil, at different moments and in different ways. The understanding of these technicians on the possibilities of the Urban, from the influences of the theorists mentioned and also in harmony with the conditions and specific characteristics of Brazilian society, has added mainly to the definition of possibilities and impossibilities of the development of the concept in the country. This aspect is primarily due to the fact that the urban planners were protagonists in moments of institutionalization of the concept (translated as Urban Reform), being also representatives in social movements in defining the meaning of Right to the City. The main moments of institutionalization of this concept (The 1963 Seminar of Housing and Urban Reform, the development and approval of the Federal Constitution in the 1980s, the approval of the City Statute in 2001 and the present, after the approval of the municipal master plans well founded in the City Statute) correspond to fairly representative occasions of this understanding. By analyzing documents produced by the institutions and technicians who have excelled in national scenario regarding this issue, we note that the Urban Reform is a term that was originated at issue in Brazil, and since the beginning of its formulation some parts of classes have attempted to empty and trivialize its meaning; the principles included in the understanding of the concept were already mostly present since the beginning of its discussion, in the 1960s; the decrease of Lefebvres radicalism of thought, whether for a widespread understanding of other theorists cited, or the specific conditions of Brazilian society or even by the power of established and reducer thought, is a contributing factor to limit the movement of the concept.